About the shop:
Typical barbershop. Relaxed atmosphere, good music. My appointment was pretty early so there were only a couple of guys there and they were cool.
The service:
This was my 1st time going to Nolan (my current barber's out of commission for a couple of mos). He was friendly, professional, and took his time. He's a good barber, as far as fade skills. It's a clean fade, but unfortunately, this cut's an L. Here's why
The cut:
I showed Nolan a pic of the cut several times, he seemed like he had a good idea of it, and I told him I wanted a little off the top because it had gotten long. Should've known when my cut was running long, something was wrong. I thought he was just being meticulous, but truth is too much was getting chopped. When it was done and I looked at it, part of me was glad it was done and part of me was confused as hell - where did all my hair go??
When I got home and looked at it more I damn near wanted to cry, because I actually had a hairSTYLE. I walked in with an actual style that was about a year's worth of growth and shaping - I just wanted it cleaned up and a lil off the top, but walked out looking like I was ready for basic training. The fading is good, but the way he cut it, the hair's too high on the sides and too low in the middle of my head. It looks boxy from the front, it's too high in certain places, my lining is slanted and he just took wayyy too much off. So now I have to walk around for months hating my hair until it grows back and I can get it done right.
You try to let barbers do their job without micromanaging them, because of mistakes other barbers made in the past, but if you trust that they know what they're doing and they don't, YOU'RE the one with jacked up hair. You end up with a cut you hate and money doesn't even factor into it because is a refund going to grow your hairline back? Is it going to give you your length back?
I don't think Nolan's a terrible barber - I'm sure he's good at the cuts he knows, but this isn't one of them. This isn't what I asked for and it pretty much destroyed the style that I had. So now I have to start all over.
Here are pics of how my cut usually looks and Nolan's cut. He's a cool guy, but I won't be going back. I'll just wait for my barber and let my hair grow into wilderness before I let another barber touch me.
My advice?
If you're looking at their pics, make sure they have a LOT of them and they've done the cut you're trying to get. If you show a pic, chances are they'll say they can do it, even if it's out of their wheelhouse, then proceed to practice on your head.
Before they start cutting, talk to them for about 5 minutes about your hair goals, what you don't like (ie barbers always want to give me that sharp ass lining in the front and end up making it crooked), show them multiple pics, and tell them exactly how much length you want in inches.
I've gone through 7 barbers in 4 years before I actually found one that's good (most can't really cut or just cut your hair the way they want instead of what you asked for). So although you don't want to hassle them, bump that - do what you gotta do to get the look you want. read more